(November) Prompt #2 - Glass Walls

[Chat Noir]

The second prompt of November is the phrase, Glass Walls.

[Chat Noir]

If you have any questions about how to participate in this event, please visit the rules (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=63004) thread or PM me (http://role-player.net/forum/member.php?u=27079).

Happy writing!

[Niceni]

This is apparently what happens when I stay up too late and I've been watching far too much Fringe and Blacklist.


Love was a concept he was only just beginning to understand. There had been psychiatrists when he’d been a child, countless medical professionals and a handful of quacks. They bandied around different words, all frantically trying to find a box that he and his so called symptoms fitted into, nice and neatly. The generation of categorisation, it was not enough just to accept that not everyone behaved or looked at the world in quite the same way, no, if you were different you needed a label. It kept the so called normal people from getting confused or distressed. Somehow, naming those who were different made them manageable, understandable and dispatched with the crippling fear of the unknown. He’d never thought he was anything they’d named him. He was just himself.

They had told him, when he’d been recruited, that he was special. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be special but it had made such a pleasant change from being treated like something faulty that he hadn’t been able to bring himself to object. His differences, the things that had so often kept him locked from the rest of the world, were going to be perfect here, they told him. He could just be himself and in doing so he could stay out of that horrible institution he’d been kept in. They were very sympathetic, they told him, of his plight and they were here to help him, to give him purpose. He suspected that they voiced their emotions because they understood that he couldn't read them.
He was to be a silent observer; it was a simple as that. To be housed just across the street from a woman, Marilyn, to watch her and to make note of everything she did. There would be screens, they explained, showing him every room of her house. Who she was wasn't important, he wasn't to ask any questions, just to watch and record, watch and record, for as long as they needed him to. So, after they had explained the task ahead, in great detail, and taught him how to use the various technologies required, he took his meager collection of belongings and he moved to the small house across the street from Marilyn.

As the first hours melted into days and the first days into weeks, the very walls between him and her seemed to simply disappear. It was as though he was living right there with her. In the mornings he would get up early, about 5:30 to ensure that he could shower before she woke, then he would prepare his breakfast, eating as he watched her do the same. He felt something that he understood to be companionship, a concept that had previously been foreign to him, which he had only ever witnessed as a bemused outsider. As they ate, he would talk to her, imagining her responses so clearly in his head that he often found himself almost believing that they were real.

When she left for work, he would watch her from the window, whispering goodbye and imagining her wrapping him in a tight embrace. Then, with her gone, he would sit at his desk, compiling his report on the day before. They liked to know everything, what time she woke, what she ate, how long she spent in the bathroom, the mood she appeared to be in, any phone calls she made and what she said during them. He was always thorough, they always praised how thorough he was, he liked detail. He especially liked details relating to her. Sometimes he would forget to omit their breakfast conversations and the report would return with a post-it note, reminding him that he was not permitted to make contact.

Sometimes, there would be a man. He was reminded, a little, of the large men that used to restrain him when he was having what they called an episode. They told him that he was strong when he was like that and yet, no matter how hard he tried, he never seemed able to fight them off. They always won and if losing over and over wasn't bad enough, there would always be punishment afterwards. We’re just trying to help you, they’d say, as they administered shock after shock. For a while it would work, he would be too afraid to do the things he knew they didn't like, he would pretend to be like one of them but then he would forget and the sorry cycle would begin again. The man that sometimes visited Marilyn frightened him but also made him feel something else, anger perhaps, or jealousy, he wasn't sure. He would become very agitated and his task, watching the screens for as long as Marilyn was conscious, would become very difficult. There were things he didn't like to watch, things he didn't understand.

Then, there were the nights without the man. These were the ones he liked best. He would watch her come in from work, kick off her shoes and sink into her favourite arm chair. Sometimes she would speak to her mother and he could listen to the details of her day away from him and he would imagine her life outside of the four walls they almost shared. He would watch as she ate dinner and think about everything they would talk about. She would tell him about the experiments she had done today, he had learnt that she was an important scientist, and he could tell her about the big dog that was often walked down the street during the day. At bedtime he would look away as she undressed, he remembered his mother and sister shooing him from the room when they wanted to change. When she climbed into bed, he would do the same, keeping the screen close to him and watching her as he drifted off to sleep.

One morning he woke and Marilyn was simply gone, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she had woken before 5:30. He sat glued to the screens for days, watching the empty rooms. He wrote his reports but no one came to collect them. On Wednesday, there was no delivery of groceries. He watched as the man came and went several times. He watched as the man returned, this time with several men in uniform. He watched as they broke down the door and searched through the rooms, upturning everything in Marilyn’s perfect home. He watched, suddenly frightened, as a pair of eyes looked directly at him on one screen and then another and another, like there was nothing between them but glass.

[IssyEspeon]

I can't for the life of me figure out the spoilers.......

She stood, motionless, staring at the figure in front of her. Slowly, she reached out her hand, and brushed it against the cool surface. "Stop that, you'll leave smudges." The man she knew as her father snapped, not even looking at her.
Immediately, she drew her hand back, still looking at the glass. The man sighed. "Stop staring at the mirror and do something productive." He said, annoyance Laing his voice. She nodded once, darting out of the room. She hopped down the stairs, and nearly bumped into her mother. A small smile made its way to her face. "Hello Mama." She said softly. Her mother smiled back. "Hello Issy, are you being a good girl?" She asked. The child nodded. "Uh huh. I'm going outside to play." She said, then walked away from her mother, who continued up the stairs holding a tray, probably taking some food to her father.
The child reached upwards, and opened the door carefully, closing it quietly as she walked through it. She turned, smiling at the back yard she had stepped into.
She padded through the grass, smiling as the tiny blades tickled her bare feet. A breeze drifted through the garden, ruffling her hair pleasantly. Ducking through some bushes, and moving branches aside, she made her way deeper into the garden, until she reached a pond near a large hedge.
"Silver? Are you there?" She called softly. There was a rustle, and a head popped through the hedge. He grinned. "Course I am!" He said cheerfully, coming completely from hedge. The girl smiled slightly. "Come on, lets go do something. " she said quietly, reaching a hand out to help him up from the ground. He grinned, then grabbed her hand. Instead of helping himself up, he pulled her down next to him. She squeaked slightly, and he laughed. He rolled over onto his back, and simply looked upwards. "How 'bout looking at the sky while talking?" He asked. She smiled, and nodded once. "Okay." She said softly.
They watched the clouds drift across the sky, great fluffy puffs of white in the clear blue sky. "So, how've you been?" He asked her. She shrugged slightly. "Same as usual." She spoke, not elaborating on her life. He huffed slightly. "I've been stuck in the village. Moms getting worse when it comes to me, and the elders are teaching me what she can't." He said. She smiled. "At least your life is a little interesting." She said, more than a little wistful. He chuckled slightly. "Hey, I'd prefer to be in your situation than mine." She looked a little sad. "At least you're learning. I'm stuck in the house, and can't do anything. Father won't allow me." She said softly. Silver sighed. "True. We should stop talking about this, shouldn't we?" He asked. She shrugged. "So, how's Dread? Feeling better?" She asked. The boys face lit up. "Much! He's able to walk again, and spends a lot of time limping around after me. Mom says I might even be able to keep him!" He said enthusiastically. She smiled. "So, the little fox is getting better. That's good to hear." He grinned. "I'd totally bring him, but they'd figure it out sooner or later." Issy smiled. "It's okay, I get to hear about him, don't I?" He sat up, and shook his head. "But, you can't see him! And you can only rely on my description of him to know how adorable he is!" He said adamantly. She sat up, laughing softly. "And that's enough for me. Come on." She said, and stood. Grumbling slightly, he did the same, and followed her to a mossy stone bench near the pond. She picked up a pebble, and threw it, watching the ripples spread, and eventually fade. Silver brought out a small pouch from his cloak, and held it out to her. "Here." He said. She blinked, then opened it. A small smile came to her face. "It's so pretty...." She whispered. He shrugged. "Hey, you can't do anything in that house, so I figured you should have something to look at at the very least." She smiled, carefully pocketing the black drawstring bag. The she stood , and knelt by the water. He blinked, then sat next to her. They stared at the reflection of the sky, trees, birds, and themselves. "Issy, you said a while ago you keep getting trouble with your dad. Why?" He asked softly. She sighed. "I mess up a lot. Most recent is for smudging a mirror." He stared at her, then shook his head. "One, the guy sounds like a jerk. Two, what is it with you and reflections?" He asked. She smiled slightly, and reached her hand towards the ponds surface. "Because I like to imagine that I'm looking through the mirror to another place, where there's another girl looking back at me at the exact same time. She could be anyone, she can be happy with a loving family, or she can be tough, and doesn't care about her parents. Or she can be a sweet little girl who everyone adores. The only similarities is that she looks like me. I like to think we live in two separate worlds, but we can still catch glimpses of the other through a reflection. We think its just our world looking back at us, but it would be nice if it weren't." He looked at her, then let out a tiny huff of air. "Then how do you explain how we can't go through a mirror, of the ripples in the pond." She smiled, then tapped the surface, blurring the image of themselves. "Simple. Our worlds are separated by thin glass walls. We can look through, but breaking it means destroying the connection." He looked at her, then at the pond. "I never thought of it that way...." He said quietly. Se laughed. "No one does. That's why I'm convinced its true Silver. After all, the best way to hide something, is to put it in plain sight." He looked at the clearing surface of the pond, and at their reflections. He frowned at the image. Issy wasn't looking at the pond, yet her reflection was. The reflection waved at him, smiling. He jolted back as the other Silver reached out, and the pond rippled beneath the surface. "Glass walls.... See through, yet solid...." He whispered. She stood, and helped him to his feet. "Lets go play." She said, smiling slightly. He nodded once, and they began to chase each other around the garden.
If the had stayed, they would've noticed the two reflections had stayed there, talking to each other and laughing as 'Silver' conjured a little glass cube, which showed two children running in a garden. "Can I touch it? It won't affect them, right?" The girl asked. He shook his head. "It's separated by the walls of the prism. They won't feel a thing." The girl smiled. "Like that other one was saying about our worlds being separated by a glass wall, right?" He nodded. "Yup. I'm surprised she managed to find that out." She laughed. "Well, we did. I'm surprised no one else has seen it. Especially adults." The boy laughed. "Liz, they don't have the imagination to think that." She nodded. "And the people here think that we are crazy Gen. For disobeying and acting on our own instead of being good little reflections."

[Kylie]

I try to hide myself from others by putting up walls around my heart. No one cares enough to knock them down and I don't hold a grudge against them for that. Personally, I don't want them to be knocked down either, because I know once they are knocked down I'll be vulnerable. When the walls come down people can play with your emotions however they please and I'm too familiar with the aftermath of people playing with my heart. Even the people close to me haven't broken down all of the walls I've built. There are far too many for anyone to break down, or, at least, that's what I thought.

Then I met you and everything changed. The walls I had spent so long building crumpled right before my eyes and I couldn't rebuild them fast enough to protect myself. I latched onto you for comfort and protection and you gladly obliged, taking me in and becoming my entire world in the process.

You have no walls. There is a clear path to your heart that you're not afraid to hide. I decided to take the journey, thinking that when I got there you would welcome me with open arms. After all, you broke down my walls in a matter of days, so I should have the right to yours as well. But when I was inches away from your heart and I could see all the love that you had to offer me, I was stopped short. I ran right into a glass wall that had been there the whole time. It was invisible to the eye, but clear in it's message: you had tricked me. You knew that you weren't open to letting me in and yet you still let me take the journey. You allowed yourself to play with my emotions and break down all of my walls, leaving me naked in front of you for you to do whatever you wanted with me. You knew that you didn't really want to let me in, but you easily let yourself in to my heart without asking.

Now I'm back where I started, building up the walls that you so easily broke down, knowing too well that they will do me no good when I meet the next person hiding behind glass walls.

[Kiki]

LUCI WE SHOULD BRING THESE PROMPTS BACK!

[Skeletor]

Yes this would be really cool.

[Stumpy]

I'd love to have these brought back! Very cool!

[Griff]

:shishine:

[Kiki]

Good news everyone! We are bringing them back! Stay tuned for July's. C:

[Omac]

What part am I even on anymore?!

------------


I should have ran.
Now it was too late and the man with the huge axe in a dark robe was nearing closer to me. He had put some sort of spell on me to where I could only move a few inches before I was stopped by an invisible wall. I tried to smash my way out, but I wasn’t strong enough. Then the box started to move, lifting me into the air and taking me along for the ride. Whoever this man was, who they called the punisher, he meant business. I could only hope that Nat would be able to save me. So I was pretty much doomed.
“How does it feel to know your time on this planet is coming to an end?” the main guy asked as he walked beside my little invisible hell. I tried to spit in his face, but my saliva only slid down the clear box around me. “Funny, you actually thought that would work,”
I tried to speak, but I was sure he couldn’t hear it. I was meant to be boxed out as most of the men who attacked me made sure to keep their line of sight away from me. I didn’t know how to get out of this one. I knew using the power of the snake rattle wouldn’t be able to help in this situation nor would a staff. My only guess was that I had two options; take out the punisher and thus breaking the spell or find a way to break it from the outside.
I pulled out the red flute I was given earlier. From what Nat told me it had helped Piper on many adventures. I didn’t know how to use it, but from what she described all I had to do was attempt a song and my fingers would know how to play it. I started thinking back to the different ones she described to me. I think I knew one that could summon a very powerful demon so I tried to play that one.
I mustn’t have known what I was doing because things didn’t go according to plan. I watched the small blue musical notes come out of the flute, fading through the clear box around me and into the air. Right above me a small grey cloud appeared as it started to pour down with a rainstorm. I wasn’t getting wet as the mysterious aura around me was keeping me safe. This wasn’t going to help me at all… the ability to make it rain might come in handy at a later time, but not now.
I watched, while floating in the transparent box, as they took me all the way to the end of the burnt trees, to a red river that seemed very, very deep. The box started to float over the river before the punisher waved goodbye and the box plummeted under the water. It went so far down that I felt anchored. Like, they left me here to die. These glass walls wouldn’t hold up forever… I needed a way out.
I looked back to the flute in my hands trying to imagine a different song that Nat or Nancy would have mentioned. I thought of one that would help me out of this situation , but would be tricky to pull off. I played the song, a very peaceful tune that made me a little sleepy, and then scurrying across the sea floor came a herd of rats, likely in the thousands, running smack first into the glass walls causing them to shatter around me.
The second my skin touched the water I was in intense pain. It was like the water was made of fire. I felt a burning sensation that forced me to swim up as fast as possible. Before I could though I noticed a faint glow coming from a little underneath me. I dove for it despite the agony I was in, grabbing it, and then swimming to the surface. By time I made it to shore my arms were completely red unlike their usual pale self. I then looked to what was in my hands and it was a shark tooth tied to a chain. I slipped it into my backpack.
I was happy that I had survived this predicament, but upon turning around found myself staring at a small army, about ten to fifteen goons, surrounding me with the Punisher looking at me with his fierce eyes. They sure didn’t look happy that I had lived through this battle. Something else bothered me… I wasn’t wet. I was as dry as I was when inside the box. I didn’t see how that was possible, but… my attention was taken back to the villains around who all raised their spear like weapons.
“Hey guys…” I started, “How about we forget this whole thing?”
The Punisher raised his axe above my head like he was about to chop my body into pieces. I was pretty sure I couldn’t die, but that didn’t mean I wanted to try. I didn’t have time to think so I started to play on my flute once more. This time the sound was horrendous, like a shrilling set of screams that made me fear my ears would bleed. To my disbelief all the enemies around me fell to the ground, even the punisher fell to his knees begging for it to stop. So I stopped.
“Which direction can I find Pip?” I asked and he pointed more south, “Good, good. Then you won’t mind if I’ll just be on my way. Oh, and if you hunt me or my friends down or try any of your magic stuffs again I’ll play this song until your brain explodes. Got it?” he shook his head, “Cool,”
I started on my way. I wanted to thank that store keeper for giving me such a good deal on the rattle and for helping me learn how to use the starfish gem more easily. I was a little happy that I was able to ditch Nat, though I doubted it would be the last time I saw her. Next up on my to-do list was to take on the boss, Pip, get the crystal and be able to switch back into my true body. I had to admit it was fun being the Pied Piper for a while and I needed to do whatever it took to get more crystals. Even if that meant switching with Piper on multiple occasions. I moved forward swiftly trying to reach my destination as soon as possible.